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Every time I check Canada’s Olympic medal count, I feel a little more inept at math. And that’s quite the feat, considering I was forced had to endure summer school for high school math not once, but twice.

As of 11:30 MST on August 4, CTV’s Olympic app listed Canada at 11th place in the overall medal standings. That’s a damn fine showing for us at the Summer Games considering our seasons consist of almost winter, winter, spring(ish), and road construction. Plus, we just earned our first gold in women’s trampoline so suck on that USA! (that comment isn’t really relevant here, but you have to give your country props when you can)

But all that joy is diminished if you check out Canada’s medal count via Google. In a cruel twist of unfortunate math, we somehow slip 10 spots in the standings and settle way down low at 21st place. Cue the sad violin music.

So what’s going on here? Is Canada relatively low in the overall ranking, are we doing fairly well, or is the Olympic medal count ridiculously arbitrary because there isn’t global agreement on the best measure?

When it comes to the Olympic Games, there’s no shortage of things to celebrate. Of course everyone loves to keep close tabs on their homeland’s medal count, and it’s hard not to be in awe of a global event that peacefully brings together a world full of not-always-harmonious nations. Plus, when else can you spend an afternoon feeling patriotic merely by watching random sports like javelin, synchronized diving and fencing?

But if you ask me, the most significant achievement realized at the 2012 Olympic Games happened before any competition even took place. It has to do with equality. And it’s about damn time. Allow me to explain.